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The dapper monkey, who became an overnight sensation after his journey across a North York Ikea parking lot, is now home at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland.

Sherri Delaney, co-founder of the Peterborough-area farm, said it was created for monkeys like Darwin because of the booming exotic pet trade in Canada.

“We’re here to provide refuge to animals in a variety of different situations, such as being on the lam at an Ikea store,” she said.

Darwin will join 22 other rhesus macaque monkeys at the sanctuary. His escape may have been the best thing for him in the long run, Delaney said.

“This is the best time possible that he could escape because he’s not damaged yet,” she said, noting that many pet primates suffer emotional issues because of boredom and poor socialization. “If he would have been with his owners for another year, we would have seen behaviours that were not appropriate for his species.”

The group reached out to Toronto Animal Services when it heard about Darwin’s escape act at Ikea.

“We have an enclosure and we’re ready to take the baby on,” Delaney told the Sun.

The group is hoping to resocialize Darwin and pair him with an older female who can be a mother figure. While he might look cute in his shearling coat, it’s not natural, she said.

“Let’s turn back the clock a little bit, let’s not humanize it. Let’s let him be who he’s supposed to be.

“Let him be a monkey.”

Delaney stressed that keeping primates as pets is not only dangerous to the animal, but also to the owner. She cited Herpes B, a disease the monkeys are known to carry, which can be fatal to humans.

“Whatever good intentions the owners may have had … they put themselves, their families and friends at risk,” she said. “When we do things with our macaques we’re in full hazmat suits.”